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Chris McGovern, chairman of the Campaign for Real Education said yesterday: “We should not be putting young children on the emotional frontline.

We should not be putting young children on the emotional frontline.

Chris McGovern, Campaign for Real Education

“They are at risk of being disturbed or even traumatised by this type of well-intentioned but naive dabbling.”

The Church of England School in Westbury-sub-Mendip, south of Bath, has about 50 pupils. Its website tells of the school’s record in promoting diversity and its commitment to “tolerance of different faiths and beliefs”.

The twinning scheme was thought up by Sikh humanitarian charity Khalsa Aid, which works with a Yazidi camp about 20 miles from a battle zone.

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Ravi Singh said the project would provide 'friendship' and 'some hope' for Yazidi children

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Yazidis were among the first to flee IS thugs when they began tore through their North Iraq home

Yazidis were among the first to flee IS thugs when they began rampaging through their North Iraq heartland two years ago.

Up to 50,000 were forced from their homes, hundreds were executed and women were raped, sold as sex slaves and buried alive. Ravi Singh, the charity’s chief executive, said the project would provide “friendship” and “some hope” for Yazidi children.

He said: “Some of the refugees are in a really isolated location so we are trying to help the children, who are really stranded.”

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Priddy and St Lawrence’s Primary School

Headteacher Rosie Thorner said she had been “so impressed with the empathy” shown by the children. “They have been so creative with the letters they have written and the pictures they have drawn. I’ve certainly not heard of anything like it before but for us it’s a really, really positive project for the children to get into.”

She added in the school newsletter: “The children were really moved by Ravi’s visit to school this week. He talked about the children in Iraq who have been displaced due to the battles going on in the Middle East.”